Sea Hunt comic books are often the first bit of memorabilia that Sea Hunt fans see and start collecting.
That was the case for myself. While visiting my parents in my childhood home I found an old Sea Hunt comic. I sat down and re-read the entire comic and I really enjoyed it! Needless to say I started thinking about Sea Hunt again and was soon wondering if there were other comic books available. As they say, the rest is history. My collection now includes hundreds of Sea Hunt items.
Comic books are easily available on a dozen websites. eBay is probably the best source. Prices range from $0.99 to $99.00 and it often seems that the only difference is in the seller’s mind. Certainly a near-perfect comic is worth a lot more than a well-read book but when starting a collection just for fun, just get a set of comic books. You can always get pickier later and trade or buy and sell until you have a set that you’re happy with. Again, that’s what I did so I now have a set of books that is near-perfect plus I have hundreds of extras that I sell or trade for other items.
Don’t be fooled by the seller’s descriptions that say “RARE”. They’re NOT rare. Also be skeptical about the descriptions as well. Comic book dealers are usually the best source. Individual sellers will always say their Sea Hunt comic book is excellent. If you see “In great condition for a 60 year-old comic” be careful. It could mean that it’s been read daily every day for 60 years. It either is in great condition or it is not!
Great condition should mean that the comic book is completely intact with no missing pages, no tears, no chips of cover missing, etc. The pages will have yellowed over the years but a good one will have largely white pages with just some yellowing on the edges. The staples will be in good shape, not rusty or loose. There should not be any wrinkles in the cover.
There are a few things to keep in mind when grading your comics. The paper is bound to be brittle because of its age. When inserting your comics into a plastic sleeve be careful to not catch the edge of the cover and break off little chips. I use a cardboard to stiffen the book in the sleeve. You can get proper comic book cardboard that does not have chemicals that will affect the comic. Unlike comic book dealers, I put my cardboard at the center of the book – on the staple page. That way I can see the back cover which can be important as you’ll see if you read on. Comics with a dark (black) cover are particularly hard to find in nice condition. The black is affected by bending and most comic books are bent (when being hidden in a math text for instance, or under the bedcovers).
I have 66 comic books or comic book related items in my collection – 6 different countries & languages.
So let’s look at the comics in my collection. This might be interesting for you since there were 13 comic books published in North America but I have 29 of them in my collection. Read on and you’ll see why.
American – 29 comics (5 Variants, 8 Signed, 1 Misprint, 2 Shop Dummies) PLUS 2 cover photo negatives
The following lists are organized thus:
My Number Issue Number • Publisher • Description of Item • Back Cover (BC) Notes
1. Four Color is the name of the comic series published by DELL, but not called DELL. Read about this on Wikipedia.
2. A picture story is a series of hand painted images with text that tell a story – like a mini comic book.
Read more about Sea Hunt Comic #1 HERE.
These comics use the original US version front covers & stories although not necessarily in the same sequence or combination. The non-Sea Hunt cartoon stories & the advertisements are unique to the country.
Mexican (Spanish) – 8 comics (1 Variant)
The following lists are organized thus:
My Number Issue Number • Publisher • Description of Item • Back Cover (BC) Notes
5. 994 • Four Color (DELL) • Shop Dummy with Editor’s Notes
Oddly, these comics include a running series about “How Gas Engines Work” & some stories about divers versus incredible, fictitious undersea monsters. Some front covers are quite unique with exciting artwork. Otherwise they’re like the US issues (in Portuguese, NOT Spanish). the price is Cr$ 20,00 (cruziero – about 25 cents USD – I think)
Brazil (Portuguese) – 6 comics
The following list is organized thus:
My Number Issue Number • Publisher • Description of Item • Back Cover (BC) Notes
This comic is black & white only & printed on cheap newsprint paper. The front cover looks like a cheap photocopy of the USA #1 issue.
It is glued together, not stapled like every other Sea Hunt comic.
The price is 1’. (1 Australian Pound).
Germany (German) – 20 comics called ‘Mike Nelson’ (NOT Sea Hunt)
The German Sea Hunt comics have some real oddities. Notice is that they are called ‘Mike Nelson’ comics, not Sea Hunt.
The last 3 issues even substituted the title of the inside story as a title for the comic rather than Mike Nelson. In the very last issue,’ Mike Nelson’ does appear in small letters under the larger title.
Although not in the same order, the first 8 comics have the US cover with Lloyd Bridges as Mike Nelson in his Voit gear. Lloyd Bridges’ name appears on only 4 of these 8 comics (in the US it is on every one).
The rest have an unknown diver in German scuba gear. I have tried unsuccessfully to determine this guy’s name.
Most of the stories are from the US comics as well. The US comics had 2 Sea Hunt stories plus another short non-Sea Hunt story in each issue while the German comics commonly had just 1 story. Some German comics had 2 stories but they weren’t always both Sea Hunt stories. Some were the non-Sea Hunt stories again from the US issues.
Also, the covers and the stories do not match the US version. That is, a German comic may have a cover from one US issue, a Sea Hunt story from another US issue and, if it has 2 or 3 stories (a few do), they may be from different comics.
The first German comic (#29) has the same cover and same back cover as US #6. The rest of the German back covers have ads for other New Tessloff comics – Dennis the Menace, The Flintstones, Tom & Jerry, and Huckleberry Hound.
There is no date or month on the cover as in the US. Only the issue number gives the sequence and those numbers are not sequential. The publisher numbered all of their comics as published regardless of the name of the comic. Copyright dates, with ZIV-USA authorization, run from 1961 to 1964. The color printing quality is good but NOT up to US standards.
“60 Pf” appears on the top right corner (“60 Pfg.” on the first one). Pf is a pre-Euro German coin which roughly translates to ‘penny’. Each issue also shows the price in Italy (130 Lire), Austria (3 Schilling), and Switzerland (70 Rappen).
The following lists are organized thus:
My Number Issue Number • Publisher • Description of Item • Back Cover (BC) Notes
The following comics have the German cover, still called Mike Nelson but definitely NOT Lloyd Bridges!